


The Doctor (Is Out)

by delicatelyglitterywriter



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 09:06:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14102040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicatelyglitterywriter/pseuds/delicatelyglitterywriter
Summary: When The Doctor appears from the fear dimension, it's up to Fitz to face him, before he can hurt anyone.A fix-it fic for 5x14. Everything is the same, except that The Doctor is a fear manifestation.





	The Doctor (Is Out)

**Author's Note:**

> This is canon and you cannot convince me otherwise.
> 
>  **Content warnings:** canon-typical violence, Daisy is restrained like she is in the episode, mention of looking at brains  
>  (I think that's it, but if I missed anything please tell me)

“ _ Think _ Fitz,” Fitz growls at himself. He grasps the sides of his head, trying to make his brain come up with an idea. 

“Go to bed, Fitz,” Jemma sighs from behind him, entering the control room. 

“I  _ can’t _ . I have to figure out a way to close this dimension!”

His voice gradually loudens, and by the end of his sentence, he’s shouting. Jemma doesn’t even flinch. She only closes the distance between them, and places a gentle hand on his back to calm him.

“I know. But you’ve been working on a solution for  _ days _ without sleep. Perhaps it’s time to let your subconscious do some of the work.”

Fitz sighs, leaning hunched over the table. “You’re right. I’m going to get some sleep.”

Jemma smiles. “Yes. Go get some rest, I’ll keep thinking about a solution.”

Fitz manages a small smile in return. “Yeah. Okay.”

Fitz’s sleep is full of dreams. Most of them are nonsensical, plotless sequences, but then his subconscious begins to process through his dreams. In his dream that makes sense, he realises that he needs Daisy’s powers to compress the gravitonium and get it inside the orb. 

He wakes up with a start at six o’clock on the dot, the dream still fresh in his mind.

“That’s it!” Fitz murmurs in a weary excitement, as he sits up. “Gotta tell Jemma.”

He slips on clothes, and sprints to the control room to let Jemma know what he’s discovered, and to get her help on thinking  _ how _ exactly to carry out the solution without hurting anybody.

When he gets there, however, he’s not greeted with smiles, but with fearful expressions and eyes full of tears.

“What’s going on?”

“Fitz, The Doctor is here.”

Fitz pales. “Wh-What? How?”

“Another anomaly,” Jemma explains shortly. “I...Fitz, I don’t know what to do.”

Fitz is scared out of his wits, and he knows that something has to be done, and  _ now _ . In a flurry, Fitz slams his fingers against the iPad on the desk, checking the base footage. His mind is racing, following The Doctor’s plan with a terrifying precision. He hates that he knows The Doctor so well. 

He quickly finds the footage he’s looking for on camera 6. Just fifteen minutes before, he sees The Doctor grabbing Daisy from behind and choking her until unconscious. His heart skips several beats. This is exactly what he was afraid of. He had hoped desperately that The Doctor was just going to come and visit him and tell him all about how he was weak or whatnot, and just generally  _ not _ go after his friends.

He was foolish to hope that. He really should have known better.

“No.”

Fitz is out of the room and running for the lower levels, without thought of anything else except saving Daisy.

Meanwhile, down on level sixteen, Daisy is straining to free herself, and get away from The Doctor. Deep down, she knows that she can’t get out of her restraints without help, but she wants - she  _ needs _ \- to at least try. She’s so scared, and she feels so helpless, and she needs a hug. 

“As I said before,” The Doctor says with a few disappointed clicks of his tongue. “Escape is unlikely. Try to make yourself comfortable.”

He waltzes around to behind her and sits down. “The more you fight, the more painful it will be.”

Daisy cries out in pain as he slices her skin open, right near the inhibitor. She’s already shaking, but not from her powers. Just from fear. She doesn’t know how long it will be before people realise she’s missing; nor how long it will take for them to come and rescue her.

She’s terrified they’ll be too late. 

The Doctor pulls back her skin to see the inhibitor more clearly, drawing a whimper for her. She’s crying now, though she tries not to. She doesn’t want to cry until it’s safe. 

Above her, The Doctor lets out an interested hum. 

“Runs deep into the brain,” he murmurs. “Wires that run around the bottom of the cortex.Interesting…”

He grabs the inhibitor with the tongs, and makes sure he has a firm grip. Daisy’s heart is thumping in her chest and breathing is kind of hard.

“No! NO!”

“ _ Get off her _ !”

Both The Doctor and Daisy stop, their gazes snapping to Fitz as he bursts through the plastic curtains. Daisy has never been so glad to see him.

“Fitz,” she whispers. “Help me.”

“Get away from her,” Fitz repeats, keeping his eyes on The Doctor as he moves deeper into the area.

Behind him, Jemma presses a gun into his hand and steps back. He knows that she knows that he needs to face The Doctor on his own. He’s grateful that she understands this.

Grateful, but terrified.

“No,” The Doctor says calmly. 

Fitz had known it wouldn’t have been as easy as simply asking him to leave, but he wishes it was. He meets Daisy’s gaze, but has to look away when he sees how scared she is. He hates seeing her so scared.

He hates that it’s  _ his _ fault. The Doctor is a manifestation of himself, and so, by reason, this is all his fault, and he hates that most of all.

“You and I both know that Daisy’s powers are key to closing the rift,” The Doctor continues. “I’m just doing what you are not willing to.”

“N-No, that’s not right. Th...There has to be another way.”

“This is the most efficient method,” The Doctor says, putting the tongs down and standing up. “We both know we’re running on borrowed time.”

Fitz is painfully aware that he and the team have a limited amount of time to save the world. But he also knows that traumatising Daisy is not worth gaining a few minutes on their clock. It’s not an acceptable loss.

“Just because something is efficient,” Fitz says, his voice wavering. “Does not mean that it’s the best method.”

The Doctor huffs a laugh, running his finger along the side of the bed he has Daisy strapped to. “Such a...womanly sentiment. Man up, Fitz.”

Fitz swallows the lump in his throat. His hands are shaking and he has to try with all his might to not drop the gun. He opens his mouth to defend himself, but all that comes out are a series of confused noises.

“I...but...er...uh…”

The Doctor mocks him by mimicking his lack of response and scowls at him. He takes three steps towards Fitz as he speaks.

“You. Are.  _ Weak _ .”

Fitz reflexively flinches back, the first tears falling from his eyes. He’s not strong enough to do this. He can’t. He can’t say that what The Doctor’s saying is wrong. He can’t even raise the gun to shoot The Doctor.

He’s too weak to. He’s too weak to do this on his own. 

But maybe he doesn’t have to, he realises. 

Taking a deep breath, he looks again at Daisy. She still looks petrified. He turns and looks at Jemma. Jemma’s crying, too. He looks back at The Doctor, waiting impatiently for him to make a decision.

Deep down, Fitz thinks that maybe The Doctor is right. Maybe he is weak. Maybe he can’t do this. Maybe he is wrong, after all.

But he’ll be damned if he lets The Doctor decide his worth rests on these things.  

His worth lies in his unwavering loyalty to his friends, in his stubborn caringness to help others, in his good and sometimes too-trusting heart. It lies in the very vulnerability The Doctor believes makes him weak.

“No,” Fitz decides boldly, although his voice still shakes and the tears still fall. “ _ You’re _ the weak one; succumbing to all those manly sentiments.”

With that, Fitz raises the gun, aims it at The Doctor’s head, and pulls the trigger. He watches as The Doctor disintegrates in front of him. As soon as the last speck of dust has fallen to the floor, Fitz rushes over to Daisy, fumbling to release her. Jemma jumps in, slicing the ropes holding her down.

Fitz pulls Daisy upright and holds her close as she cries. He cries too, and she clings to him. Jemma joins in the hug, and together, they allow themselves to cry for a little while. Even after they finish crying, they keep holding each other, relishing the physical contact. 

It’s Daisy who eventually breaks the silence.

“Is what The Doctor said true? Do you really need my powers to close the rift?”

Fitz hesitates.

“Fitz.”

“Yes,  _ but _ I had an idea on how to do it without removing the inhibitor.”

Both women’s interest pique.

“Go on,” Jemma prompts.

“Right, so, um, what I would need to do would be run a few tests on the inhibitor to determine the currents that run along the wires, and-”

“Wait there are wires?” Jemma cuts in. “How do you know that?”

“I can see ‘em,” Fitz states, gently brushing Daisy’s hair back. “See?”

“Oh, so there are,” Jemma said, looking at the slightly-displaced inhibitor. “Fascinating…”

“Guys!” Daisy snaps. “Can you  _ not _ look at my brains right now?”

“Sorry. Anyway, I would run tests and then once I’ve determined the current, or various currents that run along the wires, I would build a remote like Kasius had to match the wire currents and then we can turn your powers on for a few minutes while you get the gravitonium into the sphere, and then turn them off again. Smash the remote and everything. But only if you’re willing to.”

“How long would it take to build the remote?” Daisy asks.

“A couple of hours? A day at most.”

“Are there any other options? Ones that don’t involve my powers?”

“Well, I suppose I could build a device that mimics your powers and move the gravitonium that way, but that would take about a week. But I can do it if you really don’t want to use your powers.”

Daisy nods slowly, considering her options. Eventually, she sighs. 

“Run the tests.”

“A-Are you sure?” Fitz asks, caught off guard by her decision. She nods again.

“It’s the best shot we have at closing the rift. A machine could easily fail, but I know I can do it. Plus, it’s only for a few minutes. Can’t really destroy the world in a few short minutes. Do what you gotta.”

Fitz nods. “Okay.”

He takes Daisy upstairs and sits her in a seat in the control room. He runs the tests, getting Jemma to sew her back up afterwards. He spends the rest of the day building the remote, and by the time the sun sets, it’s ready.

Fitz and Daisy make their way back down to the gravitonium and Fitz holds up the remote, hesitating.

“Are you sure about this? There’s still time to back out, if you want.”

“Fitz, like I have said the last fifty times you asked me: yes I am sure,” Daisy assures him. “It’ll be easy, and quick, and then we’ll have one less problem on our hands.”

She pauses, searching his face before adding, “I trust you, Fitz.”

Fitz lowers his head. “You shouldn’t.”

“Dude, what? You literally saved me from an evil version of yourself about to rip the inhibitor out, and then came up with an alternate solution to our problem. You could have easily let him finish, or worse, follow through, because, yeah, it is the most efficient solution, whether I like to admit it or not. But you didn’t, because you’re a good man, with a good heart.”

“Not all of me,” Fitz mumbles. 

“Hey, none of that,” Daisy reprimands, clicking her fingers to bring Fitz’s eyes back to her face. “Yeah, maybe you do have darkness inside of you. But guess what? We all do. And I watched you literally shoot the manifestation of your inner demon in the head. If that’s not symbolic for overcoming your darkness, I don’t know what is.”

“Yeah, I guess it was pretty badass, huh?” Fitz says with a slight smile.

“Hell yeah,” Daisy agrees. “Now let’s get this gravitonium into the orb. Ready when you are.”

Fitz takes a deep breath and presses the remote. He watches as Daisy winces slightly, and as he watches Daisy move the gravitonium, he can’t help but feel quite pleased with himself that he got it right the first time. 

Once Daisy’s got the gravitonium secured inside the sphere, Fitz turns her powers off again, and smashes the remote under his foot. He turns to Daisy and motions for her to bring the sphere.

Together, they go down to where the rift is, and holding hands, they release the sphere. They watch it float through the air, wrap itself around the smaller sphere barely holding the rift closed, and close itself around the smaller sphere.

They both let out a sigh of relief as the rift closes once and for all. Daisy turns to Fitz with a smile on her face.

“I think I saw some Twinkies stashed in the storage area a few levels up. Wanna go raid it?”

Fitz agrees, although as he follows, he mutters under his breath.

“I don’t want Twinkies, I want some damn Maltesers.”


End file.
